Held to nine points in the first half, Anthony made 12 of 15 shots during a 33-point third period to break the team record of 32 set by David Thompson on April 9, 1978, and tie the NBA record set by San Antonio's George Gervin on the same day in the same season.

Anthony hit 4 of 5 three-pointers during his record run as the Nuggets (15-7) turned a 56-44 halftime deficit into an 84-78 lead heading into the final period.

For the non-math majors in the audience, that means he personally outscored the entire Wolves team 33-32.

"Stuff like that, that's just unbelievable," Wolves rookie forward Kevin Love said. "It's kind of out of our control because he was out of his mind shooting the ball."

Kevin McHale, who fell to 0-2 since replacing fired Randy Wittman as Wolves coach, said his team had trouble matching up against Anthony after Ryan Gomes picked up his fourth foul with 7:23 to go in the period.

"So we tried some zone and he made a couple threes against the zone, and it just seemed he got his motor running," McHale said. "We weren't able to slow him down.

"He got rolling," McHale added. "He put on a show there in that third quarter, boy. They were on fire."

For a half, things looked promising for the Wolves, who had a 16-point lead with 3:49 to play in the second period and outrebounded the Nuggets 28-13 in the first 24 minutes.

Then Anthony went to work.

A dunk got things started, and two free throws capped a nine-point run that cut the margin to 56-53.

Back-to-back baskets by Randy Foye and Al Jefferson quieted the fans, but Anthony woke them up again with a tip, two free throws and three-pointer that got the Nuggets even at 60-60 with 6:29 to play in the period.

Rashad McCants put the Wolves back on top with two free throws, but Anthony split a pair and followed up a Chauncey Billups miss to give Denver its first lead since the 6:46 mark of the first quarter at 63-62.

Before the period was over, Anthony had poured in 18 more points, and the Nuggets were in command, 84-78.

"That was one of the greatest quarters I've ever been a part of," Anthony said. "The most important thing is we won the game tonight."

It's been a while since the Wolves (4-17) have been able to say that.

Wednesday's loss was their seventh straight since a 105-103 win at Oklahoma City on Nov. 28 and eighth straight against the Nuggets.

The Wolves got 26 points each from Jefferson and Foye, and Love bounced back from a tough game in Tuesday's loss to Utah with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

He even went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome Anthony, who scored 15 points more than he had in any game this season -- and added 11 rebounds.

"I've been looking for a game like this," he said. "I've been trying to get my shooting touch, my rhythm back. Tonight was the game."